text: Congress referred to BMP  in several sections of the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) but did not define the term.
  *The 1977 CWA used the term in describing the areawide waste treatment planning program and in procedures for controlling toxic pollutants associated with industrial discharges.  The "Section 404" program, which covers dredge and fill permits, refers to BMPs in one of the enforcement exemptions.
  *References to stormwater BMPs first appear in the 1987 amendment to the CWA in describing the Nonpoint Source Management Demonstration Program.
  *Another stormwater BMP reference was added in 2001 with the authorization for a Wet Weather Watershed Pilot Project program.